2004 held at Sanford, Florida on September 18-20.

Champion – U.S. Vinyl/Z-Wear/Meridian/Subway, Lafayette, Georgia
Runner Up – Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging, Sandoval, Illinois

• MVP – Bob Woldyk, U.S. Vinyl/Z-Wear/Meridian/Subway
• HR Leader – Kenny Briggs, Benfield/Alesium/Reece/Easton – 8
• Batting Leader – Alex Lavorico, Benfield/Alesium/Reece/Easton – .800

FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS

P – Justin Atwood, Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging
C – RJ Howerton, U.S. Vinyl/Z-Wear/Meridian/Subway (9-14, .643, 6 HR, 19 RBI)
1B – Bob Woldyk, U.S. Vinyl/Z-Wear/Meridian/Subway (10-18, .556, 6 HR)
2B – Denny Crine, Kluever’s/B&J Logging (12-20, .600, 7 HR, 20 RBI)
3B – Dal Beggs, Team Synergy
OF – Andre Newhouse, U.S. Vinyl/Z-Wear/Meridian/Subway
OF – Kenny Briggs, Benfield/Alesium (12-17, .706, 8 HR, 18 RBI)
OF – Dexter Avery, U.S. Armed Forces (4 HR, 9 RBI in one game)
OF – Rick Valdez, Bell Corp/Doc’s
UT – J.C. Phelps, Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging
UT – Alex Lavorico, Benfield/Alesium (12-15, .800, 5 HR, 9 RBI)
UT – Wendell Rickard, Kluever’s/B&J Logging (4 HR, 8 RBI)
UT – Jeff Wallace, Benfield/Alesium
UT – Brian Wooten, Synergy
UT – Chad Bragg, Synergy

SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICANS

P – Billy Messina, U.S. Vinyl/Z-Wear/Meridian/Subway
C – Cherylton McRae, U.S. Armed Forces
1B – Rex Schwartz, U.S. Armed Forces
2B – Chris Butler, U.S. Vinyl/Z-Wear/Meridian/Subway
3B – Joel Ramos, Bell Corp/Doc’s
SS – Lee Diaz, U.S. Armed Forces
OF – Tim Baldwin, U.S. Armed Forces
OF – Wayne Habermehl, Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging
OF – Travis Matthews, Benfield/Alesium/Reece/Easton
OF – Scott Janack, U.S. Vinyl/Z-Wear/Meridian/Subway
UT – Chris Chilton, Synergy
UT – Bobby Barrett, U.S. Vinyl/Z-Wear/Meridian/Subway
UT – Troy Summerfield, Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging
UT – Jeff Ott, Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging
UT – Jim Thurman, Bell Corp/Doc’s
UT – Dean Schmidt, Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging

FINAL STANDINGS

1. U.S. Vinyl/Z-Wear/Meridian/Subway, Lafayette, GA (4-0)
2. Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging, Metamora, IL (3-2)
3. Team Synergy/Easton, Orlando, FL (2-2)
4. Benfield/Alesium/Reece/Easton, Columbus, OH (2-2)
5t. Bell Corp/Doc’s/Easton, Tampa, FL (1-2)
5t. U.S. Armed Forces, Washington, DC (1-2)
7t. Watanabe/New/K&G/TPS, Cincinnati, OH (0-2)
7t. Westshore Pizza/T&R Stucco, Tampa, FL (0-2)

DAY 1

Team Synergy and U.S. Vinyl advanced to Saturday’s winners’ bracket finals of the ASA Men’s Major Slow Pitch National Championship here at the Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium with a pair of wins Friday.

Team Synergy had to come-from-behind in both of its wins. It needed a dramatic two-run, two-out homer in the bottom of the seventh to edge Watanabe/New/K&G; of Cincinnati, OH in its opener, 13-11, then fell behind 14-2 against Benfield/Alesium before exploding for 14 runs on 15 hits in the fourth inning to take the lead and win 25-22.

Benfield/Alesium, which won its first game against defending champion Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging, gave it a gallant effort in its loss to Team Synergy. It trailed by eight runs entering the seventh inning and scored five times to cut the game’s final margin to three.

Outfielder Ken Briggs’ three-run homer in the seventh reduced the game to its final margin and it was one of five homers he smashed in a perfect performance, driving in 12 runs. Benfield, which will play Saturday at 4 p.m., smashed nine homers, one more than Synergy. Catcher Brian Wooten paced the Synergy offense with eight runs batted in on a pair of three-run homers and a two-run single in four at-bats. Chad Durick went 4-for-5, driving in four runs on three singles and a two-run blast in the sixth inning.

While Synergy had to come-from-behind, U.S. Vinyl won both of its games in convincing fashion, run-ruling Westshore/T&R Stucco and Bell Corp/Doc’s in five innings each. In the two games. U.S. Vinyl smashed 18 homers and 42 hits. Catcher R. J. Howerton led the Vinyl offense in the second game, hitting three homers in four at-bats to bring across six runs after driving in five runs in the first game.

Bell Corp/Doc’s, which will play the winner of the Watanabe-Kluever’s game at 2 p.m. Saturday, managed only six hits and failed to score in four of the five innings against U.S. Vinyl.

Other losers’ bracket games Saturday is at 10 a.m. (Armed Forces vs. Westshore/T&R Stucco), 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Each team has a 15 home run limit per game with 71 homers hit in the first six games. Vinyl and Benfield lead with 18 each followed by Synergy with 12.

U.S. Vinyl 16, Bell Corp/Doc’s 4

U.S. Vinyl 810 61 — 16 16 2
Bell Corp/Doc’s 040 00 — 4 6 0

Team Synergy 25 Benfield/Alesium 22

Benfield/Alesium 284 0 1 25 — 22 24 1
Team Synergy 002 14 5 4x — 25 29 1

Team Synergy 13 Watanabe/New/K&G 11

In the opening game of the championship, Team Synergy/Easton of Orlando, FL pulled out a 13-11 win against Watanabe/New/K&G; of Cincinnati, OH on a two out, two-run homer by Rich Gulash in the bottom of the seventh inning. Synergy trailed 11-10 entering the seventh, then tied the game on Johnny Dykes’ RBI single, setting the stage for Gulash’s game-winning round-tripper over the left field fence. Gulash was hitless in two previous at-bats with a walk prior to the seventh inning. Gulash’s homer was one of four hits by the winners. Watanabe smashed five homers with Brian Wegman and Tom Ellis having two each. Dykes was 3-for-4 including a three-run homer in the third inning and had four runs batted in.

Watanabe 200 313 2 – 11 15 1
Team Synergy 214 012 3 — 13 15 0

Benfield/Alesium 16 Kluever’s Snap-On 9

Holding a two-run edge after three innings, 2003 runner-up Benfield/Alesium of Fairfax, VA scored seven times in the fifth inning to spark a 16-9 win over defending champion Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging of Metamora, ILL. The runs in the fifth came on homers by Jeff Wallace, Jamey Bare and Justin Valentin. The winners hit nine homers compared to six for the losers. Denny Crine drove in five of Kluever’s Snap-On runs with a three-run homer in the first and a two-run smash in the fifth inning. Alex Lavorico was 3-for-3 for Benfield, driving in three runs on a solo homer in the first and a two-run blast in the third. Wallace drove in four runs with a pair of two-run homers and Kenny Briggs brought home another three runs with a 3-for-4 performance with a two-run homer in the first and a solo blast in the sixth.

Kluever’s Snap-on/B&J; Loggin 501 020 1- 9 14 1
Benfield/Alesium 404 071 x-16 17 2

Bell Corp/Doc’s 16 USA Armed Forces 12

After batting to a 10-10 tie through three innings, Bell Corp/Doc’s of Tampa, FL outscored the USA Armed Forces of Washington, DC 6-2 in the next two innings for a 16-12 win in Friday’s third of six games at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium. Steven Lynn had a two-run single in the fourth and Scott King’s two-out grand slam was the big blow for Bell Corp in a four-run fifth inning. The Armed Forces went scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings before scoring its final pair of runs in the sixth inning on pinch hitter Randy Wilhide’s two-run single. Rex Schwartz drove in four runs for the Armed Forces with a three-run homer in the first and a triple in the second inning. Bell Corp and the Armed Forces each hit four homers in the game.

USA Armed Forces 811 002 0 – 12 15 1
Bell Corp/Doc’s 811 240 x – 16 14 2

U.S. Vinyl 27 Westshore/T&R Stucco 9

In the first run rule game of the championship U.S. Vinyl of Houston, TX topped Westshore/T&R Stucco of Sarasota, FL, 27-9, hitting 11 homers in the five-inning game. Eleven of the runs came in the first inning on nine hits. Vinyl finished the game with 11 homers, while Westshore had three. Three Vinyl players, J. D. Genter, R. J. Howerton and Chris Butler, accounted for 15 of the runs with five RBI apiece. Genter hit three homers and Howerton and Butler had a pair each. Oscar Shipley accounted for five of the Westshore runs with three hits, including a pair of two-run homers.

U.S. Vinyl 115 0 47 — 27 26 1
Westshore/T&R Stucco 2 2 2 03 — 9

DAY 2

It wasn’t the high scoring game some people might have expected. U.S. Vinyl, however, of Houston, TX did what it had to do to advance to the championship round of the ASA Men’s Major Slow Pitch National Championship with a 10-5 win over Team Synergy of Orlando, FL Saturday at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium. Vinyl, which averaged 21.5 runs in its first two wins, will play in Sunday’s 11 a.m. championship against the loser’s bracket winner after handing Synergy its first loss after scoring 38 runs in winning its first two games before being sent to the loser’s bracket.

The loser’s bracket final is scheduled Sunday morning at 9 with Team Synergy facing Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging. Synergy took an early 1-0 lead before falling behind 4-1. It closed the margin to within one run with three runs in the fifth inning. Vinyl, however, scored three times in the bottom of the fifth inning on a solo homer by Wally Woldyk, an RBI single by Jeff McGavin and an outfield error to increase the deficit to four runs. Synergy cut the margin to three on Nate Johnson’s RBI single in the sixth inning, but Woldyk’s two-run homer with two out in the bottom half of the inning upped the deficit to the game’s final margin. Synergy went down in order in the top of the seventh as Vinyl guaranteed itself winning no less than $6,000 (second place).

The championship team will receive $10,000 with the third-place finisher getting $4,000 and the fourth-place finisher $2,500.00. Earlier in the tournament, U.S. Vinyl received a $1,000 check from ASA President E.T. Colvin for accumulating the most points (290) in ASA Major qualifiers held throughout the U.S. Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging of Metamora, Ill., trailed Vinyl in the points race (185) also received a check for $1,000 from President Colvin.

Woldyk led the Vinyl offense with three hits in four at-bats and catcher R. J. Howerton added a single and a two-run homer in three trips to the plate. His homer was his sixth of the championship. Vinyl had three homers in the game after hitting 18 in its first two games. Synergy didn’t hit any homers in the contest. Synergy’s Chris Chilton had two singles in four at-bats to drive in three runs. Johnson and Chad Bragg each had RBI singles to account for the other Synergy runs.

Team Synergy 100 031 0 – 5 12 2
U.S. Vinyl 040 132 x — 10 13 1

Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging 22 Benfield/Alesium/Reece/Easton 10

Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging (3-1) advanced to Sunday morning’s losers’ bracket final by eliminating Benfield/Alesium/Reece/Easton Saturday, 20-10. Benfield jumped out to a 10- 7 lead before Kluever’s scored five runs in the bottom of the second to take command of the game. After scoring in the first two innings, Benfield was blanked in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Kluever’s was blanked in the third but tallied six runs in the fourth and twice in the fifth to pull away. Kluever’s had eight hits in the fourth inning.

The loss eliminated Benfield/Alesium/Reece/Easton, which finished fourth and won $2,500 splitting four games. The win advanced Kluever’s Snap-On /B&J Logging to Sunday’s losers’ bracket final at 9 a.m. against Team Synergy. Kluever’s smacked nine homers while Benfield hit six homers. J.C. Phelps had three solo homers and a single and Denny Crine had four RBI (4-for-4) with a three-run homer in the second and a solo shot in the fifth for the winners. Kenny Briggs had a pair of homers, driving in three runs as did teammate Jamey Bare with a three-run round-tripper in the first inning. Benfield got 12 of its 14 hits in the first two innings.

Benfield/Alesium/Reece/Easton 550 000 – 10 14 1
Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging 750 622 – 22 28 0

Benfield/Alesium/Reece/Easton 22 USA Armed Forces 11

Benfield/Alesium/Reece/Easton increased its record to two wins in three games by eliminating the USA Armed Forces 22-11 io the losers’ bracket Saturday. The loss was the second for the Armed Forces, (1-2), the fourth team eliminated from the original eight-team field. After falling behind 5-3, Benfield/Alesium/Reece/Esaton went ahead by one by scoring three runs in the third inning. B.J. Fulk smashed a solo homer and Alex Lavorico a two-run round tripper to put Benfield/Alesium/Reece/Easton in the lead. Benfield increased its lead to eight runs by scoring seven times on six hits in the fourth inning. The Armed Forces got a run back in the bottom half of the inning, but Benfield/Alesium scored four times in the fifth inning to increase its lead to 11. The runs in the fifth inning came on homers by Kenny Briggs, B.J. Fulk and Rafael Robledo. Benfield/Alesium added two more in the sixth before the Armed Forces came back with three runs in the sixth inning on a solo homer by Randy Wilhide and a two-run shot by Tony Patrick. Alex Lavorico went five-for-five for the winners, driving in six runs with three homers and two singles. Each team hit seven homers.

Benfield/Alesium/Reece/Easton 033 742 3–22 25 2
USA Armed Forces 500 103 2–11 16 5

Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging 4 Bell Corp/Doc’s 1

Wendell Rickard and Denny Crine accounted for all the runs as Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging eliminated Bell Corp/Doc’s of Tampa, FL from the championship in the lowest scoring game of the championship. Rickard had solo homers in the fourth and sixth innings and Crine also had a two-run blast in the fourth to give Kluever’s its second win in a row after an opening game loss. The third team eliminated from the championship; Bell Corp (1-2) managed only seven hits in the game. Jim Thurman’s solo homer in the third inning with one out accounted for Bell Corp’s only run. In the fifth Bell Corp’s first two batters, Mike Linton and Mike Zerbe, singled, but the next three batters retired in order. Bell Corp left seven base runners on base. With the win, Kluever’s can finish no worse than fourth, which is worth $2,500.00.

Bell Corp/Doc’s 001 000 0 – 1 7 0
Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging 000 301 x – 4 6 2

Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging 22 Watanabe/New/K&G 0

Defending champion Kluever’s Snap-On /B&J Logging of Metamora, Ill. kept its hopes alive of repeating by eliminating Watanabe/New/K&G; of Cincinnati, OH, 22-0 in the first of six games Saturday at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium. Watanabe was winless in two games. It was the third run-rule game of the championship as Kluever’s hit nine homers and pounded out 20 hits in winning its first game after losing its tourney opener. Outfielder Denny Crine drove in seven runs with three homers and a single in a perfect performance and Wendell Rickard brought across six runs for the winners, hitting a two-run shot and a grand slam. Vern Hensley had two of Watanabe’s four hits with a pair of singles.

Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging 44 110 3 — 22 20 0
Watanabe/New/K&G; 00 00 0 — 0 4 0

USA Armed Forces 23 Westshore Pizza/T&R Stucco 10

With left fielder Dexter Avery hitting four of his team’s 10 homers to account for nine runs, the USA Armed Forces of Washington, D.C. evened its record in two games in eliminating Westshore Pizza/T& R Stucco of Sarasota, FL from the eight-team field. Westshore was winless in two games in becoming the second team eliminated from the double-elimination championship. Westshore pulled to within four runs after five innings before the Armed Forces put the game on ice with a nine-run sixth inning, which was highlighted by Avery’s grand slam homer. It was one of 11 hits the Armed Forces had in the inning. The Armed Forces smashed 11 homers to three for Westshore. Mike Chambless had three hits for Westshore, including a solo homer in the third inning.

Armed Forces 331 349 – 23 27 2
Westshore Pizza/T&R Stucco 102 430 – 10 13 1

Losers’ bracket final

Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging 11 Team Synergy 7

Defending champ Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging advanced to the championship game by eliminating Team Synergy of Orlando, FL Sunday morning in winning its fourth straight game after an opening game 16-9 loss to Benfield/Alesium of Fairfax, VA. Kluever’s scored five runs to open the game but Synergy tied the game in the second inning on Dal Beggs’ two-run single up the middle, scoring Damon Marlette and Brian Wooten. J.C. Batista, Wooten and Rich Gulash had the other RBI in the inning. Gulash hit a solo homer with one out to score the first Synergy run. Kluever’s, however, broke the tie in the top of the fourth on Jeff Ott’s second homer of the game. Ott’s first homer was a grand slam in the five-run Kluever’s Snap-On first inning. The first Kluever’s run scored when Dean Schmidt walked with the bases loaded. In the fourth, Synergy tied the game at 6-all on J.C. Batista’s sacrifice fly, then went ahead on Beggs’ RBI second RBI of the game. The lead didn’t last long, however, as Kluever’s went ahead by two runs with three runs in the top of the fifth inning on Shaun Watson’s two-run homer and a solo blast by J.C. Phelps, his sixth of the tournament. Kluever’s added two insurance runs in the seventh on Denny Crine’s two-homer—his seventh of the tournament and fifth for Kluever’s. Synergy had only one homer. Synergy finished third (2-2) and received a check from ASA President E.T. Colvin for $4,000 following the game.

Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging/Polster 500 130 2 –11 14 2
Team Synergy 050 200 0 – 7 11 1

DAY 3

First baseman Bobby (Wally) Woldyk had only one hit in Sunday’s championship game of the ASA Men’s Major Slow Pitch National Championship at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium. But it was the one U.S. Vinyl of Houston, TX needed for insurance to win its first ASA Major national title, beating defending champion Kluever’s Snap-On/BJ Logging of Metamora, Ill., 13-8, in eight innings. In four previous trips to the plate Woldyk, who was named tourney MVP, was hitless. Before entering the batter’s box in the eighth, he asked his teammates for some advice. “Guys, I am hitless. What should I do?” Woldyk said. They told him to do what he does best and “blow it out of here.” And he did, sending the ball over the left center field (370 feet plus) fence for a one-out grand slam to give his team a seven-run cushion entering the bottom of the eighth inning.

Before Woldyk unloaded his sixth homer of the championship, three runs scored on RBI singles by Jeff McGavin, Chris Butler and Billy Barrett, giving Vinyl a 9-6 lead. In the bottom of the eighth, Kluever’s Snap-On, which had won four games in a row before losing for a second time, reduced the game to its final margin on Shaun Watson’s two-run homer with Wendell Rickard aboard. Rickard singled to open the inning against winning pitcher Billy Messina.

The next two batters, J.C. Phelps and Denny Crine, grounded out before Jeff Ott doubled to keep Kluever’s hopes alive of repeating as national champion. But Dean Schmidt flied out to left field to end the game, giving Vinyl its first ASA Major Slow Pitch Championship. Besides being the first ASA Major title for the team, it was the initial one for manager Bryant Grant.” We had 11 different guys all playing as one,” said Grant, who praised Vinyl sponsor Steve McCloud.” We certainly appreciated what he did for us this year. I just wish he could have been here to witness this.” Unfortunately, McCloud couldn’t attend because his daughter has some health problems, and he needed to be with his family. The game was tied twice (five all and six all) before Vinyl broke the game open in the eighth in the tournament’s first extra inning game. After Vinyl scored a pair in the first on Andre Newhouse’s two-run homer, Kluever’s tallied five in the bottom of the first. Vinyl, however, tied the game at 5-all with three runs in the second inning on RBI singles by Butler and J.D. Genter and a sacrifice fly by Woldyk. But Vinyl broke the tie in the top of third on McGavin’s RBI single, scoring Newhouse who had singled to start the inning. Dean Schmidt of Kluever’s homered to lead off the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 6-all. Vinyl didn’t score in the fourth and fifth innings. Kluever’s was blanked in the bottom of the fifth, sixth innings and seventh innings. Vinyl got a pinch runner to second base in the seventh inning, but he was picked off to end the inning. In the eighth, outfielder Newhouse doubled to left to start the inning. Catcher R.J. Howerton was intentionally walked and McGavin singled to right, scoring Newhouse. Butler singled to score Howerton before Scott Janak flew out to right field for the first out. Barrett’s RBI single brought home McGavin with the third run of the inning, setting the stage for Woldyk’s grand slam. Newhouse (3-for-4, single, double and homer, two RBI), and McGavin (3-for-4, two singles and a double) led the Vinyl offense. For Kluever’s, Troy Summerfield had a pair of singles and walked in his other at-bat. Watson also had a single to go along with his homer in the eighth inning and Rickard had two singles in four trips to the plate. Each team hit two homers in the championship game. Beside winning its first ASA national title, Vinyl received a $10,000 check from ASA President E.T. Colvin for first place. Second place was worth $6,000 to Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J; Loggging, which received the check also from President Colvin. Kenny Briggs of Benfield/Alesium/Reece/Easton led the tourney in homers (9) and will receive $500.00 from the ASA. Leading hitter was Alex Lavorico of Benfield/Alesium/Reece/Easton (.800).

U.S. Vinyl 231 000 07 -13 17 0
Kluever’s Snap-On/B&J Logging 500 100 02 – 8 13 1